When the kids moved out and into homes of their own, I gave them all the childhood ornaments from the tree the three of us had as a family. Of course, that meant I had to start almost from scratch and I had the perfect person with whom to do this...my E!
Every year, right before Christmas, E and I would go to Old Town St. Charles (in Mo.) Old Town is a little area down on the Missouri River which has been revitalized and restored to its vintage glory. We would always try to time our visit to coincide with a celebration called Las Pasadas (Mary and Joseph's travel to Bethlehem). We would roam through the wonderful little shops and boutiques in search of two ornaments to buy each year. We started off just collecting glass ornaments but expanded this to include hand blown glass vintage Santa ones as well.
Once we found our special ones for that year (usually more than 2 and most often found at the Flower Peddler), we would head to the winery on Main. The winery had gas firepits and it was always better if it was lightly snowing. After a glass of the winter wine which was often mulled served warm with spices, we would head to Lewis and Clark restaurant where we had made reservations. We would request a table on the top floor and out on the balcony with the heaters and from there we would watch the procession come up the cobblestone street. Whe would join the carolers who follow the procession to the lighting of the tree and then we would go home.
I miss this tradition of ours but we still shop each year for 2 (or more) special ornaments and also be sure to pick up one from our travels. I am thinking we might be able to find not a replacement for the one in St. Charles but a new tradition in either the Victorian Stroll here in our little town or the Old Fashioned Christmas in nearby Dunedin.
This is our big tree and some of our collected ornaments. The last vintage Santa was the one we bought this year. Some one once commented that they could not wait to have an "adult" tree like ours...we love it!
2 comments:
Have you been to Rogers Christmas House in Brooksville? Well worth the drive and there are some great antique stores and tea houses in the nearby vicinity. They are open every day. It's a great place!!
love your tree and the best part ... it's packed with memories!
peace
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